[heat00]

I just heard that Sprint and Nextel are going to or have merged...
What is that going to mean?? The 650 will now have a walkie-talkie button on the side ?? LOL

[dutchtrumpet]

PTT works fine on mine...doesn't yours?

[heat00]

haven't seen a treo 650 yet with push to talk feature? send me a pic, I'd like to see that.

[mobilehotspot]

wonder what will happen to the iDEN network?

[mratatood]

As it happens i bought my 650 to get away from nextel
doesnt look like i will get far away. but i love the treo
anyone see the letter from nextel re the merge?



"There's been a lot in the news recently about the proposed merger of Nextel and Sprint. Together,
we will create America's premier communications company, Sprint Nextel, with the goal of providing you with access to the industry's most advanced, most dependable wireless services.

As we work toward completion of the merger, servicing your needs will continue to be our most important focus. That's why we've developed the Nextel Promise. It's our pledge to provide the quality of service you've come to expect from Nextel through the merger and beyond. The Nextel Promise assures you that:
. Your current Nextel@ phone, and any of the new, technologically advanced phones that we introduce this year, will continue to operate on our network for years to come. That means you can upgrade or add phones to your account with confidence.

. We will honor the terms of your subscriber agreement after Nextel and Sprint merge, and we will
continue to offer a range of competitive voice and data plans for a variety of needs and budgets.
. Our unparalleled Direct Connect@ walkie-talkie network will continue to expand, enabling our
customers to connect coast-to-coast and country-to-country. Instantly.

On behalf of more than 19,000 dedicated Nextel employees, I thank you for your business, your continued support and yOur commitment to"'getting things done"W11:h Nextel. As the Sprint Nextef merger regulatory and shareholder approvals progress over the next several months, we will keep you informed. In the meantime, we encourage you to visit nextel.com for updates and answers to frequently asked questions.
Sincerely,


Rick Orchard
Senior Vice President and Chief Service Officer Nextel Communications, Inc."

any one else?
what happens to the hardware?

[Indicator]

Nextel and Moto have an iDen agreement until 2007, so I suspect that the Nextel network will remain functional up until close to that point. After the merger completes/is approved (sometime in Q3 or Q4), then the two companies can start to talk about how they will integrate the two networks, billing systems, etc.

My guess is that eventually iDen will go away completely and be replaced by CDMA, 1XRTT, EVDO, etc. Makes particular sense given that Nextel just got that HUGE allocation of 1.9Ghz spectrum from the FCC to move away from the public (800Mhz) spectrum.

It will take a few years for this all to shakedown, and I suspect consumers will not see any real changes for at least a year. PERHAPS at some point this year we might see an update to the T650 that would allow it to access PCS Readylink - but never iDen/Direct Connect.